Problem

In the current state of affairs, sustainability and social development is the key considerations for the contemporary business organizations. This is due to the reason that the current business affairs are lacking social and sustainable approach. This issue is mainly being faced by the food and beverage industry due to the reason that food habit of different customer segments is different. In addition, there are customers who are vegan in nature and do not consumes animal related products such as milk, butter and cheese (Clarys, et al., (2014)). However, being a human being, they are also having the nutritional requirements. In this case, even though their number of milk products being offered in the market, they are not suitable for the vegan consumption. This is a major issue for the vegan population.

Miraka is one of the leading dairy brands in the New Zealand with having Maori backgrounds. They are working on the basis of cooperative and sourcing the raw materials for the local farms. Thus, the social welfare is being well maintained by them by enhancing the revenue sources for the farms (Miraka.co.nz, (2018)). According to the Maori values, Miraka maintains sustainability in terms of preserving the natural resources and people, diversity and integrity between the stakeholders. However, in terms of their products, Miraka is having diverse product range of dairy items. Some of their products are Taupo Pure milk powder and Whaiora smoothie blend. All these items are based on animal sourced materials. Thus, they are having the need of offering fiber based dairy and milk products, which will be suitable for the vegan customers.

This report will analyze the development of the article fiber based dairy product with the help of lean canvas model. This will include identifying the advantages, channels and cost structure. This will help in determining the different business factor elements of developing the fiber based dairy products.

One of the major reasons of going vegan is the health as this is identified that vegan diet can minimize the health issues. This is further motivating people to convert to vegan. In addition, the increasing awareness among the public regarding sustainability is also promoting the trend of going vegan. The major problem being faced by the vegan customers is the lack of plant based dairy products. Currently, there are number of dairy products being available in the market but all of them are based on animal milk. Thus it is not applicable for the consumption of the vegan people. Furthermore, this issue is also depriving the vegan people from the nutritional value of the dairy based products (Radnitz, Beezhold, & DiMatteo, 2015). With the increase in the percentage of the vegan population in the recent, the risk of not having the nutritional value of dairy based products will be more and it can led to nutritional issues among the major section of the global population.

Solution

The recommended solution of introducing artificial fiber based milk will help in mitigating the above identified issue. This is due to the reason that in the recent time, technological advancements helped in developing plant fiber based milk for human consumption. This will enable the vegan population to have the same nutritional value as the animal based milk products(Mäkinen, Wanhalinna, Zannini, & Arendt, 2016). The recommended product will be purely based on the fiber extracted from plant resources and in accordance to the core Maori values; the product will be entirely based on plant resources and will not have any connections with the conventional dairy products. This will ensure a suitable and ideal dairy based product for the vegan people.

Miraka with its solution to create a milk product which will be completely artificial in nature would help the vegan population to consume dairy products. This solution established by the company is unique in nature as this enables to vegan population to enjoy dairy without having to actually consume conventional dairy products. This will increase the level of satisfaction among the vegan people and therefore fetch an increase in the customer base of the company(Grönroos & Voima, 2013). The consumers will approach the company for artificial dairy based products if the quality of the products are consistent with the promise that the company makes the population. The vegan population do not have to worry about the consumption of dairy products since they will be given good quality products with the same level of nutrients that is present in conventional dairy products(Chandler & Lusch, 2015). Moreover, they will be able to get this product from a brand which will give them assurance about the good quality of the product. The assurance of the quality of the products will help the company to grow in this section of the company in a global perspective. The company also adapts the Maori principle of not supporting environmental degradation in their manufacturing. Hence, even though they produce their vegan dairy from natural plants they ensure that there is no over exploitation of plant life which would in turn degrade the environment. Therefore, the unique value proposition of the company is the high quality artificially developed dairy products for the consumption of the vegan population(Payne & Frow, 2014).

Miraka with its new innovation would be able to connect to a great mass of people due to its innovative quality of products and therefore, they have certain elements which would be an unfair advantage for them, helping them to gain a competitive edge over the other competitors in the market(Wagner III & Hollenbeck, 2014). The elements which provide an unfair advantage to the company are as follows:

• The artificial product will be a one of a kind development which its competitors have not yet been able to establish in the market.
• The brand value of Miraka would make it easier for the company to establish its new product due to the confidence that the consumers already have on the brand and its other products(Schilke, 2014).
• The company would get a huge consumer base due to the uniqueness of their product which will enable the vegan consumers to get a taste of dairy products which they are not able to do from the conventional dairy products(Urbancova, 2013).

Unique Value Proposition

The customers segment of this product would be specifically the vegan population. Even though this product can be consumed by every person, however, the company would target the vegan population with this product. This consumer segmentation has been done based on the factor that the vegan population do not consume the traditional dairy products due to their environmental reasons(Edelman & Singer, 2015). This is where their uniqueness would come into being, where they would take the help of natural plants and other raw materials to produce animal free milk which can be consumed by vegans. The customer segment could also constitute of people who are lactose intolerant and are not able to consume the traditional dairy products(Floh, Zauner, Koller, & Rusch, 2014). This product would help them to get the nutrients which are also present in the conventional milk without them affecting their health. Therefore, it can be consumed by people who are lactose intolerant and most importantly by the vegan population due to their animal free constituent.

The product developed by Miraka would have to be distributed to the people in an effective way so that the population can understand about the importance and the good qualities of the product. Moreover, these channels would be helpful in reaching the product to the people. The channels are as follows:

• Direct marketing –Direct marketing is one of the most important and effective way of distributing the product to the consumers. The product has to be available in stores which would be near the areas of the segmented consumers(Lund & Marinova, 2014). This would make it easier for the consumers to purchase the product. At the initial stage the company has to make sure that the supply does not decrease as compared to the demand and that the demands of the people are met with proper supply of the products.
• Advertisements –Advertisement is the first step that should be taken by the company. This will make the consumers aware of the product so that they can go to the stores and purchase the product(Impullitti & Licandro, 2017). The advertisement should be attractive enough to grab the attention of the customer segment and also consist of the values and importance of the product.
• Online media –Social media is also another channel that is used for the distribution of the product. Online media is the most popular forms of distribution and therefore it used by the company to spread the knowledge about their products(Ashley & Tuten, 2015).

The performance of the product has to be measured in through certain metrics so that the progress of the business can be understood(Masood, Jahanzaib, & Akhtar, 2013). A few key metrics that would be set for determining the performance of this product in the market are as follows:

• Qualitative measures –The amount of sales that has been done by the product is measured in this indicator. This indicator will help to determine the sales that has been done by the product.
• Quantitative measures –The performance of the product based on the feedback of the consumers. The opinion and the feedback of the customers will help the company to understand the present condition and position of the product in the market.
• Financial indicators –The revenue generated by the product is determined in this indicator and whether it gives the company a profit. The sales that is done by the product will determine the revenue that is generated in a year and this generated revenue will help to understand if the company has been able to incur any profit.

The cost structure will help in determining the cost that would be incurred in the launch of the new product(Doellgast, Sarmiento-Mirwaldt, & Benassi, 2016). The costs such as distribution cost, production cost, transportation and other costs are present during the launch of the new product. The structure of cost for this product is as follows:

• Distribution cost –The distribution cost for the product would be determined based on the tolls paid on the product, the warehousing costs and the cost of the transport vehicles. The cost for delivering 10 units of the product to one customer will approximately cost 30 NZ dollars.
• People cost –For the manufacturing of the product, the firm has to at least 100 workers, 5 supervisors and 1 manager which will approximately amount to 760000 NZ dollars per annum.
• Customer acquisition cost –This is the cost that is spent on grabbing the attention of the customers towards the product. The cost could be approximately measured at 300 NZ dollars.   

The revenue stream is used the set the pricing of the product based on different revenue models and the kind of model that is adopted by the company. It is often seen in new product launches that the price of the product is kept lower so as to attract the customers into purchasing the product. The price should be set in such a way that the company is able to incur profit from the generated revenue(Barland, 2013). The revenue model is used to set the price of the product, manage different ways that product could be sold and the revenue that is generated through the use of the model. The total profit of the sold product will be calculated with the revenue and it will also help to improve the performance of the company. The revenue is the income that is incurred by the company in a specific period of time, such as 1 year. This annual revenue is to be calculated to understand the lifetime value and the gross profit of the company through the sales of this product.

Unfair Advantage

Conclusion:

Hence, it can be deduced from the above study that the product that would be innovated by the company is the production of artificially produced milk for the vegan population through the raw materials found from plants and other food products. This new product would be dairy products which are animal free. Therefore, this can be consumed by people who are not able to consume dairy products due to environmental reasons. The product can also be consumed by lactose intolerant people as it does not have the ingredients of conventional dairy product. However, as determined the product will contain the necessary nutrients of that a conventional dairy product. Both of these consumers have been segmented by the company for the sales of their product. The different channels of distribution that are selected for the product are advertising, direct marketing and social media which will help in the distribution of the product to the segmented customers. Some of the key metrics selected for measuring the performance of the product are financial indicators, qualitative measures and quantitative measures. The cost structure is also developed which will take into consideration certain costs which will be spent by the company during the launching of the product. The new innovation will be helpful for the vegan population for their consumption of artificial dairy products.

References:

Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), 15-27.

Barland, J. (2013). Innovation of New Revenue Streams in Digital Media. Nordicom Review.

Chandler, J. D., & Lusch, R. F. (2015). Service systems: a broadened framework and research agenda on value propositions, engagement, and service experience. Journal of Service Research, 18(1), 6-22.

Clarys, P., Deliens, T., Huybrechts, I., Deriemaeker, P., Vanaelst, B., De Keyzer, W., && Mullie, P. ( (2014)). Comparison of nutritional quality of the vegan, vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian and omnivorous diet. Nutrients, 6(3), 1318-1332.

Doellgast, V., Sarmiento-Mirwaldt, K., & Benassi, C. (2016). Contesting firm boundaries: Institutions, cost structures, and the politics of externalization. ILR Review, 69(3), 551-578.

Edelman, D. C., & Singer, M. (2015). Competing on customer journeys. Harvard Business Review, 93(11), 88-100.

Floh, A., Zauner, A., Koller, M., & Rusch, T. (2014). Customer segmentation using unobserved heterogeneity in the perceived-value–loyalty–intentions link. . Journal of Business Research, 67(5), 974-982.

Grönroos, C., & Voima, P. (2013). Critical service logic: making sense of value creation and co-creation. . Journal of the academy of marketing science, 41(2), 133-150.

Impullitti, G., & Licandro, O. (2017). Trade, firm selection and innovation: The competition channel. . The Economic Journal, 128(608), 189-229.

Lund, D. J., & Marinova, D. (2014). Managing revenue across retail channels: The interplay of service performance and direct marketing. Journal of Marketing, 78(5), 99-118.

Mäkinen, O. E., Wanhalinna, V., Zannini, E., & Arendt, E. K. (2016). Foods for special dietary needs: Non-dairy plant-based milk substitutes and fermented dairy-type products . Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 56(3), 339-349.

Masood, S. A., Jahanzaib, M., & Akhtar, K. (2013). Key performance indicators prioritization in whole business process: A Case of Manufacturing Industry. Life Science Journal, 10(4s), 195-201.

Miraka.co.nz. ((2018)). Miraka is Milk – Miraka. . Retrieved 2018, from https://www.miraka.co.nz/: https://www.miraka.co.nz/

Payne, A., & Frow, P. (2014). Developing superior value propositions: a strategic marketing imperative. . Journal of Service Management, 25(2), 213-227.

Radnitz, C., Beezhold, B., & DiMatteo, J. (2015). Investigation of lifestyle choices of individuals following a vegan diet for health and ethical reasons. Appetite, 31-36.

Schilke, O. (2014). On the contingent value of dynamic capabilities for competitive advantage: The nonlinear moderating effect of environmental dynamism. . Strategic management journal, 35(2), 179-203.

Urbancova, H. (2013). Competitive advantage achievement through innovation and knowledge. . Journal of Competitiveness, 5(1).

Wagner III, J. A., & Hollenbeck, J. R. (2014). Organizational behavior: Securing competitive advantage. . Routledge.